Nadda urges TB patients to get treated at govt hospitals

“Given the fact TB is a life- threatening disease and rise in the number of multi-drug resistant TB patients indicate that something is wrong with the treatment practices in private hospitals. The private hospitals are also not reporting the cases of TB patients to the concerned agency, which is creating an obstacle in monitoring of patients,” said Nadda.

Decoding the message behind <g data-gr-id="30">Nadda’s</g> statement, a senior health official said, “Several instances have come to notice that TB patients are being administered steroids to give immediate relief and after not experiencing the symptoms of TB they (patients) stop taking medicines, which is very dangerous as it leads to drug resistance. While in government hospitals patients are kept under surveillance till their disease is not completely cured.”

IMA’s Inspection Control Committee Chairman Narendra Saini told Millennium Post that this step of Nadda will hit patients as about 70 per cent TB cases are treated in private hospitals. “How will public medical institutions handle the mad rush,” said Saini and added, “For bad reporting, it’s the ministry which is responsible as the process of reporting of TB is very complex and we have been requesting to simplify it.”

Endorsing Nadda’s view, RML’s Medical Superintendent Dr AK Gadpayle said, “Since diagnosis infrastructure at all public hospitals is of very good standard, so there is no question of delay in examining the cases. We are happy to offer our best treatment facilities to TB patients. In several occasions, we get patients who had taken TB treatment for more than 8 months in private hospitals, but still infected with the disease.”